puff
Americannoun
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puffs
plural
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a short, quick blast, as of wind or breath.
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an abrupt emission of air, smoke, vapor, etc.
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an act of inhaling and exhaling, as on a cigarette or pipe; whiff.
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the sound of an abrupt emission of air, vapor, etc.
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a small quantity of vapor, smoke, etc., emitted at one blast.
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an inflated or distended part of a thing; swelling; protuberance.
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a form of light pastry with a filling of cream, jam, or the like.
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a portion of material gathered and held down at the edges but left full in the middle, as on a sleeve.
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a cylindrical roll of hair.
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a quilted bed covering, usually filled with down.
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a commendation, especially an exaggerated one, of a book, an actor's performance, etc.
- Synonyms:
- flattery, puffery, exaggeration, overpraise
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a ball or pad of soft material.
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Chiefly British Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a gay man.
verb (used without object)
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puffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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puffed,
past participle, past
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puffing
present participle
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to blow with short, quick blasts, as the wind.
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to be emitted in a puff.
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to emit a puff or puffs; breathe quick and hard, as after violent exertion.
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to go with puffing or panting.
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to emit puffs or whiffs of vapor or smoke.
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to move with such puffs.
The locomotive puffed into the station.
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to take puffs at a cigar, cigarette, etc.
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to become inflated, distended, or swollen (usually followed byup ).
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(especially of an auctioneer's accomplice) to bid on an item at an auction solely to increase the price that the final bidder must pay.
verb (used with object)
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puffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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puffed,
past participle, past
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puffing
present participle
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to send forth (air, vapor, etc.) in short, quick blasts.
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to drive or impel by puffing, or with a short, quick blast.
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to extinguish by means of a puff (usually followed byout ).
to puff a match out.
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to smoke (a cigar, cigarette, etc.).
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to inflate, distend, or swell, especially with air.
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to make fluffy; fluff (often followed byup ).
to puff up a pillow.
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to inflate with pride, vanity, etc. (often followed byup ).
Their applause puffed him up.
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to praise unduly or with exaggeration.
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to apply powder to (the cheeks, neck, etc.) with a powder puff.
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to apply (powder) with a powder puff.
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to arrange in puffs, as the hair.
noun
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a short quick draught, gust, or emission, as of wind, smoke, air, etc, esp a forceful one
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the amount of wind, smoke, etc, released in a puff
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the sound made by or associated with a puff
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an instance of inhaling and expelling the breath as in smoking
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a swelling
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a light aerated pastry usually filled with cream, jam, etc
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a powder puff
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exaggerated praise, as of a book, product, etc, esp through an advertisement
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a piece of clothing fabric gathered up so as to bulge in the centre while being held together at the edges
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a loose piece of hair wound into a cylindrical roll, usually over a pad, and pinned in place in a coiffure
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a less common word for quilt
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one's breath (esp in the phrase out of puff )
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derogatory a male homosexual
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a dialect word for puffball
verb
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to blow or breathe or cause to blow or breathe in short quick draughts or blasts
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(tr; often foll by out; usually passive) to cause to be out of breath
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to take puffs or draws at (a cigarette, cigar, or pipe)
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to move with or by the emission of puffs
the steam train puffed up the incline
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to swell, as with air, pride, etc
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(tr) to praise with exaggerated empty words, often in advertising
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(tr) to apply (cosmetic powder) from a powder puff to (the face)
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to increase the price of (a lot in an auction) artificially by having an accomplice make false bids
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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puffsimple
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puffssimple
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have puffedperfect
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has puffedperfect
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am puffingprogressive
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are puffingprogressive
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is puffingprogressive
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have been puffingperfect progressive
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has been puffingperfect progressive
Past
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puffedsimple
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had puffedperfect
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was puffingprogressive
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were puffingprogressive
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had been puffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of puff
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb puffen, Old English pyffan, puffan (compare Middle Dutch puffen ); imitative of the sound
Explanation
A puff is a wisp of air or a baked snack. A magician might disappear in a puff of smoke — the kind that happens when you blow out a candle, not the kind that’s made of cheese. A puff of wind can spin a pinwheel or send a kite bobbing higher in the sky, and a tired runner's breath comes in puffs. There’s also the kind of puff that's inflated or stuffed and soft, like a puff of hair on grandma's head, a powder puff, or puff pastry, which is a thin, buttery dough that puffs up as it's baked. The Old English root is the imitative pyffan, "to blow with the mouth."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Gone within a few hours, leaving that puff of joy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
More impressively, Melton manages to exhale a puff of smoke so thick that cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck can still see it through the set’s fog.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Those distinct layers of chilled dough and butter are what create puff pastry’s dramatic height, so if the sheet begins to feel limp or greasy, return it to the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
They are petards, locally called kaxxa spanjola, designed to make noise and a small puff of smoke without anything visible in the sky.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2026
“That’s for the puff adder,” Charlie yelled out.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Buc-ee’s sells thousands of private-label snacks, including housemade jerkies and caramel-coated corn puffs, a beloved treat known as Beaver Nuggets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Tolkan was also well known for drilling Maverick and Goose with swift reprimands and tough love between puffs of his cigar as their commanding officer, Tom “Stinger” Jardian, in the 1986 blockbuster “Top Gun.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
The naan is then placed in a very hot tandoor until it puffs up and brown spots appear.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
At certain moments, small air puffs increased the animals' arousal level.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2025
He puffs out his chest when I call him soldier.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through, until the pastry is deeply puffed and golden brown.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
An October 1992 Texaco refinery explosion in Wilmington blew out windows, shook houses like an earthquake and puffed out potentially toxic vapor that went downwind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Her mother was one of 2,075 brides wearing the “Blessing Dress,” a white polyester and satin gown with puffed sleeves and a modest high neckline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Describing the scene as the "wild west", Liverpool's Garnett describes fighting in rooms full of smoke while fans puffed on cigarettes.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2025
Warm air puffed from what must be a snout, fogging the window.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
He eventually entered to find his boss, Winston Churchill, and Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French, puffing cigars and “sitting side by side with amiable expressions on their faces.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
"Huffing and puffing at the back of the court is not the way these proceedings are done," said the unimpressed judge.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
With mighty Yankee Aaron Judge huffing and puffing at the plate, a lone insistent chant emerged from a Dodger fan lurking in the shadows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
When the biscuits bake, the water in the butter turns to steam, puffing up the dough to form delicate, crisp layers.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2025
But his friend would shake his head, puffing at his pipe.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
